Bruins C leads all playoff scorers; will try to help Boston tie series in Game 2

CHICAGO—David Krejci has been among the NHL's top 30 scorers in the regular season only once in his career, when he tied for 28th with 73 points from 22 goals and 51 assists in 2008-09. This year, the Boston Bruins' top-line center is leading the league with 23 points in the playoffs, equaling the playoff-high total he had in 2011.

A player who has averaged 0.73 points per game in 424 regular-season games, the 27-year-old Krejci has tallied 0.92 points per game in 76 playoff contests, a better pace than even his best full season, an 0.89 rate in '08-09. The Stanley Cup playoffs are a time when defenses get tighter and goaltending takes center stage. Krejci, who has a five-point lead over linemate Nathan Horton for the playoff scoring title, has flipped that script.

"In the regular season, you're trying to make the playoffs, trying to be in the first four spots to get the home-ice advantage in the playoffs," Krejci said. "That's basically your goal. Obviously, you want to win it, but if you don't win it, it's no big deal as long as you're in the playoffs. Once the playoffs come, it's round by round, and that's the way it is. ... Everybody brings their game higher. There's more intensity. It's way harder, that's for sure."

You would never know it to watch Krejci play in the postseason. The strange thing is that even though he has been the most prolific offensive player in the playoffs once before, and is on his way to claiming another playoff scoring title, he does so without generating much buzz for himself.

On Tuesday, at media day for the Stanley Cup finals, Krejci was seated way down at the end of a row of Bruins, with only a couple of cameras and about a dozen reporters talking to him at any one time, while teammates such as Zdeno Chara, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand and Tuukka Rask—not that those players are not deserving of attention—were surrounded by packs of media reminiscent of the frozen concentrated orange juice buyers and sellers in the climactic scene of the movie "Trading Places."

"It's fine, I get less questions," Krejci said. "I remember a couple of years ago, I had five people around me and we were in the same position. I don't mind it."

Krejci might be comparatively free from media attention, but opponents know that they must never lose track of the slick-handed Czech. Krejci had two assists in Game 1 of the finals on Wednesday, a game in which he was predominantly matched up against Selke Trophy (top defensive forward) winner Jonathan Toews. One of Krejci's assists came with Toews on the ice, the other when he was skating against Bryan Bickell, Michal Handzus and Patrick Kane.

"He's just a really smart player," Toews said. "He's playing with really good players (typically Horton and Lucic), and you look at him, he's one of those players that really enables other players to go out there and play their game. He's always in the right position and he's always making smart plays when the puck's alive. The best thing you can do is just not let him have the puck."

That is easier said than done. Krejci's Corsi percentage this season was 55.7, meaning that six out of every 11 shot attempts at 5-on-5 while he was on the ice were by the Bruins, according to figures from hockeyanalysis.com. Boston was the NHL's third-best possession team, and once Krejci does have the puck, he is immediately dangerous.

"He just wants players to move and he finds them," Bruins coach Claude Julien said Friday, addressing the possibility that Krejci will have to play with a replacement winger if Horton is sidelined by a shoulder injury for Game 2 on Saturday at United Center (8 p.m. ET, NBC). "I don't think it's a big challenge for David. I don't think it's a big challenge for whoever plays with him. All you've got to do is the right thing: get open, and he'll find you. David is patient with the puck. If he can't find his wingers, he finds a (defenseman) coming in late. I don't think it's a big adjustment to play with him, whatever winger ends up playing with him. All he has to do is get open."

Of Krejci's 14 assists in the playoffs, four have been on plays where he set up a defenseman. Krejci had the primary assist on two Zdeno Chara goals, as well as one by Johnny Boychuk, and he had a secondary assist on a Horton goal that was a deflection of a Wade Redden shot, teed up perfectly when Krejci, in stride, passed backward to the blueliner.

"He doesn't have that explosive game like (Alex) Ovechkin or (Sidney) Crosby, but he does everything right," said Boston defenseman Dennis Seidenberg, whose one playoff point was a secondary assist on a Chara goal set up by Krejci. "When you play with him, you know how good he is, how well he sees the ice and how much offense he creates for everyone around him."

Krejci also is not bad at generating his own offense, as evidenced by those league-leading nine playoff goals. He needs three to match his total from two years ago, and Boston still needs four wins to get the Cup again and perhaps gain more recognition for Krejci's talent, both here and in the Czech Republic.

"He won the Stanley Cup two years ago, so he's big," said Blackhawks winger Michael Frolik. "Not as big as (Jaromir) Jagr, but he's pretty famous. He's a great player and I've known him since juniors. When I played with him in junior in Czech (for HC Kladno), I played on the same line with him. I knew he was a very good playmaker, and he's got good instincts with the puck. It was just a matter of time for him to go where he is right now. I'm not surprised he is where he is now. He's a great player."